Prior methods and apparatus to compress data such as ultrasound image data can be less than ideal in at least some respects. For example, compression of image data with formats such as JPEG and MPEG can result in decreased image quality in at least some instances. Also, prior methods and apparatus for compressing data can result in greater amounts of circuitry and power consumption than would be ideal. For example, prior approaches to compressing data with lookup tables can result in greater amounts of memory being used, increased power consumption, and may have longer latency periods than would be ideal.
In light of the above, improved methods and apparatus for compressing data such as ultrasound data would be helpful. Ideally, such improved methods and apparatus would provide increased throughput, decreased power consumption, decreased latency, and decreased degradation of images.